Milwaukee - Friday practice times

Penske's Will Power topped the timesheets in the first on-track action at the Milwaukee Mile for two years, putting in a time just 0.0242s ahead of Ganassi's Dario Franchitti.

Will Power recorded the top time of the Friday practice session as IndyCar returned to the Milwaukee Mile, with a lap of 21.7957s set with an average lap speed of 167.648mph.

"The car feels really good," said Power. "This is the oval that I've been to the most, and it's a very fun place to drive. It can be a hard place to pass in the race, but if you have a good car it's a great place."

Dario Franchitti, Helio Castroneves and Scott Dixon filled out the top four on the timesheets after the 75 minute afternoon track session. An additional 45 minutes of track time was available prior to the all-car practice session to rookies and drivers outside the top ten of the championship points.

Alex Tagliani and Vitor Meira were both involved in accidents in turn 4. Tagliani's was minor but Meira's caused him to have to switch to the back-up car.

Something broke on the left rear, so we'll have to look at the data and see what happened," said Tagliani. "The car has virtually no damage except for a little scratch. We didn't touch anything. We should be alright."

"I was trying hard and it stepped out on me," Meira said of his own crash. "I'm sure the ABC Supply/AJ Foyt Racing crew will put the car together better than it was and we'll go race."

IndyCar is back at the Milwaukee Mile after a year's hiatus. In the last race at the one-mile oval, Scott Dixon beat pole sitter Ryan Briscoe to the chequered flag with Franchitti and Graham Rahal finishing close behind.

"We changed the car significantly from the test here at Milwaukee and it has been better for us," said Franchitti. "I think the track has lost some grip since the two previous years I have been here, especially on the black asphalt."

Danica Patrick has already expressed her delight at the reinstatement of Milwaukee in a series she believes is becoming too road course-heavy, but the irony is that with its flat corners the Milwaukee Mile actually handles more like a road course than an oval in many respects. With drivers unable to go full speed into the flat corners, there are overtaking opportunities all around the course.

There are two additional hours of practice on Saturday at 9.45am and 12.55pm local time, followed by the qualifying session at 4.45pm local time. The race itself commences at 3pm on Sunday afternoon.